painting inspiration

I just ran into these painting I like on one of my favorite design blogs - designmilk.
They are by Madeline Adams. The first image is my favorite.

Marbling patterns

from http://www.designworklife.com/2011/10/17/demian-conrad-design-almighty-identity/

Drawings by Zoe Chantal

 

I like these girl drawings by Zoe Chantal, found in DoodlersAnonymous. See more of her work on her facebook page.

Animal Collages

These are from Collage-o-rama (etsy).

Sweet paper cut

I found this on Modern-twist. It looks sweet and kindof easy to do? Just posting it so when I get the yearning to start cutting paper (instead of myself!) (just joking!) I'll have some idea of what to try.

e-commerce businesses started by women

 yes, i an still alive, sucking in oxygen from the air and expelling god knows what.

I just found this article in the SFchronicle on the # of women starting their own e-commerce sites:

"More women founding online shopping sites", by Danielle Kucera, Bloomberg News

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/06/20/BU9M1K09TR.DTL#ixzz1PzAB5m4B

They mention a place called - Founder Labs - that helps women entrepreuners launch their company.

Ever hopeful, I am filing this information away for future use....


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/06/21/BU9M1K09TR.DTL

life goes on...

it's the end of spring break and once again i failed to accomplish most things i planned...

ok... enough of the negative. what did i do?

1) spend 2 days w/ parents (very stressful duty)
2) got my car new tires
3) weeded 1/2 of backyard
4) a little tidying

and i still have 6 hours left till i have to go to
sleep!

the image on the left is from - http://to-fu.deviantart.com/art/MANEATER-153736985

An inspiring woman story

I am cutting and pasting the story about Peggy Li here, in case I link it to the SF Chronicle and the chronicle deletes or changes the link.

=========== From the SF Chronicle, March 27th, 2011 ===============
As a chemical engineering student at UC Berkeley who eventually switched to biology, Peggy Li had already considered a couple of other careers.

In high school, she thought about being a pastry chef. A serious love of TV also led her to consider screenwriting. But ultimately it was the handmade jewelry she saw along Berkeley's Telegraph Avenue that most inspired her.

"It found me," the 37-year-old San Franciscan admits. "Early on, I didn't think about designing jewelry as a career, because I thought being a doctor or engineer was a 'real' job. "But I remember the artisans on Telegraph doing wire work, lots of really beautiful hair clips made from nickel and copper. I loved the hand-crafted look of them, and I loved the uniqueness of the pieces, done by hand, out of the imagination of the artisans."

Born in Mountain View and raised in Santa Rosa, Li has always been a creative type with an interest in arts and crafts. "I started by making pieces for my friends," she recalls. "A pair of earrings with a birthstone or a simple necklace. I found I loved making jewelry, because it's instant gratification."

Li moved to Los Angeles after graduation but continued making jewelry in her free time. While working as a pop culture writer for Channel One, she profiled Cynthia Bergstrom, a costume designer for "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (and also a Santa Rosa native).

A couple weeks after their interview, Li worked up the courage to write Bergstrom a letter and send her some of her jewelry. Less than a week later, she received a call from the show saying they loved her designs and wanted her to send more.
"It was such validation," says Li, who admits with a laugh, "and sort of crazy, too."
"They were just really simple and beautiful," recalls Bergstrom, who soon used Li's jewelry for actress Patricia Arquette's character on "Medium" and later for characters on "CSI Miami" and "Private Practice."

"What I like about Peggy's jewelry is that it accentuates and doesn't distract. Some of the pieces are very ethereal, and some are just fun. They don't overpower. And her prices are great - she keeps things very accessible."

The exposure on "Buffy" led fans and media to ask where they could purchase the jewelry, and the interest motivated Li to set up a website to sell her designs online. Loyal customer and "Buffy" fan Katharine Yee of San Francisco discovered Li's jewelry when doing an online search about the show.

"There's a nice symmetry in her designs," says Yee, who now owns more than a dozen pieces of Li's jewelry. "You don't feel like the jewelry is wearing you. The lines are clean and not fussy. Her jewelry feels elegant and even if I'm wearing a schleppy outfit, I feel great."

Accessible pricing

Priced from about $50 to $200, Li uses beads, semi-precious stones, vintage finds and charms along with sterling silver and 14k gold-filled metal chains to create her deceptively simple designs. Her spring 2011 collection, which she designs out of a small studio space in her Potrero Hill home, incorporates asymmetrical, fluid shapes in gold and silver with stones in shades of blue, pink and white.

"I was just looking for some really fresh colors for spring, trying to keep it light," she says. "The collection is all about pops of color and touches of texture that's light and easy to wear."

While she previously also sold her jewelry at a couple of brick-and-mortar boutiques in San Francisco, Li now sells her designs exclusively online from her website. The difficult economic climate of the past few years and the uncertainty of life as a jewelry designer and small business owner can be daunting, she says.
"It took me a lot of time to admit to people I was making jewelry. But I love the process of creating, and I also enjoy the selling. The energy in San Francisco encourages individuality and challenges you to be unique."

Designer focus

Li, who once worked full time doing marketing for an online gaming site, now works part time for the company. She says having work outside the jewelry business actually helps her focus as a designer.

"A lot of the creative freedom I've had comes from having two jobs," she says. "I'm not as affected by the ups and downs of the jewelry business by having this other part-time job. I feel like I can take more risks and invest funds in travel and classes."
And the rewards for her work definitely go beyond financial.

"I love that my work can give people confidence," she says. "The best compliment I can get is when someone tells me they get compliments on how great they look."

For more information or to purchase Peggy Li's jewelry, go to www.peggyli.com.

===== end of SF Chronicle story ===================

I love stories like Peggy's.  So it is possible to escape the Asian parent curse of being a professional and follow your heart instead, AND succeed.

Here are a few images of Li's work

 

Peggy's blog is at here.

Letter of the Day

Erik Otto mixed media on wood
18.5" x 18"

I love the simplicity of the circle, and this piece does it so well.  See it live at Gallery Hijinks's show- The Letter Collector.

Enjoy!

Affirmation

"I strive to move forward and will not be weighed down by the past."

I just heard this spoken by a girl who was badly abused when she was young.

On the Oprah show today.

The images in this post are from NYC-based artist Amy Chien. I found her in Design Boom. I wish I was young and adorable.

Dating betrayals

 

My heart is pounding mad. I am mad. OMG I could scream. My BF is so dense. Or maybe I am in denial - he is not dense he just DOES NOT CARE ABOUT ME.

Damn him! We've been together nearly a year and a half. 

So he SNORES like a combination between a fog horn and a dull siren. He has made NO effort to mitigate it. Although early in the relationship he did ask me whether he should look into doing something about it but then I politely deferred and said that I would try to get better earplugs.

Now he KNOWS it still a BIG problem but does nothing. He thinks I should just sleep in the room in the BASEMENT. He said since we should be asleep (unconscious) what difference does it make anyways? Well it makes a HUGE difference to me. I have told him that numerous times. For me, it is a bonding experience sleeping in the same bed, or at least same room. I do not want to sleep in that horrible room in the basement.  Why doesn't he go sleep there????

What a selfish man!  

No, it was not always like this.  In the beginning he was so considerate and generous. Now that has all changed. We barely go out - in January we went out ONCE for dinner and a movie and I paid for the dinner. He keeps saying he has to cut down on his spending but he isin't spending anything. This just means he wants to save more. I feel like he mis-represented himself in the beginning by being generous and considerate when he really isin't at all. 

I am seething with hurt and betrayal.

 

The photos in this post are from an etsy artist - "behappynow" - from tel aviv. I find her portraits charming and innocent.

In the fashion illustration zone

I am taking a fashion illustration class now and must say that I am loving it. At first I was afraid it would be too straight-laced for me, which yes it is formulaic and such but it helps me practice my line work and still leaves enough room for me to vent my creativity.

My fashion illustration teacher mentioned this lady in class tonight.  Her name is Garance Dore.  My teach said Dore is an amazing fashion illustrator AND very successful fashion blogger in France.  Today there is an article about her in the NY times and her romantic relationship w/ the Sartorialist another uber successful fashion blogger.

OMG, Dore must have such a charmed life!  Though I'm not sure that I think her illustrations are super great.  They do have a wonderful line and some special quality but I think I've seen other fashion illustrators whose work I like more.  Anyways I am featuring her work today.

Victoria Beckham

Grrrrr... relationships!

Damn!  Why are relationships so hard???  It was so good a year ago. Now a year later and I feel so much hurt and hate it's paralyzing. Should I quit now? Is this a relationship worth salvageing? How much is my fault?

Too bad there isin't some "solution guide" we can go to which would outline all the places each of us went wrong. How are we supposed to learn? Some people would say "trust yourself", "listen to your heart", or some other such intuitive approach, but I don't know how to do that! I don't understand my inner self, my inner self does not speak (is mute), or whatever...

(Erin O'Keefe makes there wonderful memory boxes where she pastes images of rooms from her past in small wooden boxes.  Then she arranges them artfully in these wonderful structures. She says in her artist statement that she intends them to allow for "new meanings and associations." Maybe I need to try an exercise like this?)

It's a confusation night

This Christian Lacroix illustration (above) from the NY times caught my eye a few days ago. It zings! Does Lacroix do his own illustrations?

It's 6:27am and another insomniac night. I'm frustrated with a class assignment and feeling blue about a relationship. What better to do than start a new blog?

I'm also listening to my Broadway Love CD. Nothing moves my heart the way a good Broadway love song does. I'd be embarrassed to admit this in a non-anonymous blog!